LEGO engineering

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LEGO walkbot - TheTech
LEGO walkbot - TheTech

LEGO Engineering - Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, Tufts University. teacher resources, useful links

Challenges - EV3
  • Light and Dark Scavenger Hunt - This challenge provides a basic introduction to datalogging with EV3. Datalogging enables you to collect data from one or more sensors connected to the EV3 brick over a period of time. It is possible to log data directly from the EV3 brick, but the focus here is on using the EV3 Software to set up and run a datalogging experiment.

Amazing LEGO projects


LEGO Mindstorms
  • NXT projects - free building instructions and downloadable programs for lots of fun projects
  • EV3 videos - using EV3s in STEM classroom, projects - wind turbines, solar panels, animated robots

FIRST LEGO League - a robotics program for 9 to 14 year olds, which is designed to get children excited about science and technology -- and teach them valuable employment and life skills.

Chris Rogers, Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach in the video LEGO Engineering: From Kindergarten to College, a Google TECH Talk video from 2008, highlights their work with teachers, and talks about some of the ways they help teachers overcome the barriers to including engineering in their curriculum.

Projects - suggest 1-1.5 hours session twice a week for 3-4 weeks
  • Green City challenge - Green City they are given a group of missions and challenges where they are asked to, from a starting point, program the robot ... to go from point A to point B, to activate a windmill, to put a solar panel on the top of a (Lego brick) house, to pick up a piece of trash ... to plug a hole in the dam with a Lego
  • hand - grasping, bend at the elbow
  • walking robot - no wheels


Do it
Now it is your turn. Here are some challenges for you to work on...
  • simple machines - lever teeter totter. complex machines - ball trough, elevator - People Mover: Simple Machines download .pdf
  • challenges - open space - most space with fewest blocks
  • car, truck, animals - turtle, pumpkin, apple tree, store front, pencil holder
  • The Tech critters with legs - copy theirs, make your own - Animal Model: Animal Studies download .pdf - walking robot video


  • Imagine Our Future Beyond Earth competition even if you are too young, or the competition is over this is a good challenge - 32x32 stud 10" x 10" baseplate - support future missions described on any of these NASA sites
  • Incredible Machine - Build a network of robots that take LEGO balls and pass them between each other without human assistance. Each robot is to be built by a different student pair, using individual designs and ideas.

  • NXT Building Tips - work through each of these - Basic LEGO brick stacking, Using pegs to connect beams, Connecting beams using axles and bushings, Constructing sturdy shapes, Attaching a wheel to a motor so that the motor turns, Attaching motors to your NXT


News, updates
  • What’s New in LEGO Mindstorms - using LEGOs to teach enrichment courses in reading, math, academic competition, and STEM topics to middle students. experience with LEGO Mindstorms in the classroom, preview of the new LEGO Mindstorms EV3.
  • Robots with personality - For scientists and engineers in the new social robots field, finding out what gives a robot the appearance of emotion or personality is essential. In the case of these little LEGO walking bots, it is mostly a matter of the way they move. The particular motions and speed create a pattern of movement that we interpret as a personality.


Engineering ideas
  • gears, wind turbines, solar panels, social robots, motion


Learn more...


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